What We Fund

Whistleblower Funding

Bentham funds whistleblowers (and law firms) in cases exposing fraud committed against the government. We fund all or a portion of the whistleblower’s living and business expenses while the litigation is pending.

Depending on the case, Bentham generally provides up to $10 million or more in funding. Our funding is non-recourse, meaning if the case fails, there is no need to repay the investment.

Whistleblower Funding Initiative

Bentham is committed to facilitating access to justice for individuals and companies. Our Whistleblower Funding Initiative delivers on this mission. We provide whistleblowers the support they need to do the right thing by exposing fraud against our government.

Benefits

Where appropriate, Bentham offers the following resources to assist whistleblowers in their fight to bring fraud to light:

Support. Talk to our network of successful relators, such as Chris Reidel, one of the most successful whistleblowers in US history and a former Whistleblower of the Year, about their experiences and learn about their real-world fight against fraud and retaliation. They are available to discuss any problem or concern during your pursuit of justice.

Selecting your Lawyer. Bentham works with some of the best whistleblower attorneys in the world. If you are not represented by counsel, we can provide you access to excellent lawyers for evaluation of your claim.

Funding. In the right cases, we can provide funding for living expenses or working capital for your business. Bentham funding is without obligation of repayment, except from your whistleblower case. We only recover if you do.

Tax/Estate Planning. If we sign a term sheet for funding with you, you can have access to preliminary tax guidance from one of the foremost tax experts in whistleblower cases. After a funding transaction, you can retain these and/or other experts to help you with critical tax planning.

Financial Planning. Once funded, you can have access to professionals who can help you appropriately protect the funds you receive from Bentham and any eventual award you receive.

Resources

For access to resources you can use to help you determine next steps for your whistleblower claim, visit our Whistleblower Resources page.

Case Studies

When a company acts as a whistleblower

Companies that discover fraud committed against the government can use some of the same statutes that individuals employ to bring suit. In one case, Bentham’s funding helped a private company uncover and prove fraud being conducted by vendors billing delivery fee overcharges to state and federal entities. The scheme masked profits made by the vendors and allowed them to take inflated deductions for the goods they sold. The whistleblower company brought multiple qui tam actions on behalf of the federal government and several states, alleging violations of federal and state false claims acts.

Some whistleblower cases involve single companies. Others, like one that Bentham funded, involve schemes so vast, with inter-relationships between the bad actors so extensive, that entire supply chains are implicated.

Within two months of being hired for a new job, one of two whistleblowers in the case began to see signs of a fraudulent scheme in actions taken by his employer and several other parties. A second whistleblower uncovered pieces of the same fraudulent scheme during the course of his employment as a government employee. What they uncovered was the production and smuggling of counterfeit hardware used to perform surgeries that were increasingly recommended and performed by participants in the scheme, many of whom were receiving kickbacks for their involvement.

As the scheme made the surgeries increasingly common, despite a lack of definitive evidence establishing the efficacy of the procedure, the hospitals involved became prominent centers for the particular surgery. In addition to endangering the health of the patients undergoing the surgeries, the scheme perpetuated extensive insurance fraud and over-billing.

Together, the two whistleblowers filed a suit pursuant to the state’s False Claims Act and Insurance Frauds Prevention Act. After they uncovered the fraud, the whistleblowers left their jobs and sought funding from Bentham so that they could both pursue the lengthy process of litigating the cases and support new business ventures.

When employers terminate employees who expose fraud

Funding for whistleblower cases is typically provided directly to whistleblowers. However, Bentham can also provide funds to law firms who bring cases on behalf of whistleblowers. For example, Bentham has helped a firm bring a qui tam case on behalf of a relator who was subjected to retaliatory actions taken by his former employer upon his revelation of the employer’s fraud. The relator, a former executive for a leading company in its industry, was terminated in what was described as a downsizing or reorganization after he made repeated attempts to address the company’s deceptive pricing for products sold to the US government.

The relator’s employer and another entity colluded for years to submit false claims to the government for payment for products without the inclusion of discounts and sales terms they were contractually obligated to provide in the contract with the government. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by the government on purchases made at falsely inflated prices and volumes. As the relator reported, investigated and attempted to stop the fraudulent conduct, his employer attempted to cover up the scheme by threatening, discriminating against and ultimately discharging the relator. In addition to filing suit under the federal False Claims Act and the false claims act statutes of multiple states, the relator brought retaliatory and wrongful termination claims against his former employer.

Funding Requirements

To be eligible for funding, the case must meet the following preliminary requirements:

The funding requested exceeds $1,000,000.

The relator’s award will likely exceed $10,000,000.

The defendant has a clear ability to pay.

There is a strong likelihood of government intervention.

The litigation has strong prospects of success.

The case arises under federal or state whistleblower laws.

If you have a case that meets our criteria, please email [email protected] to receive a funding eligibility questionnaire.

Benefits of Funding

Financing is non-recourse – if you lose your case, you owe us nothing.

Payment of living expenses, particularly where the defendant has retaliated against you and made it difficult or impossible to support yourself and your family.

Funding of working capital, to help a corporate relator's business which has been hurt by a competitor's fraud on the government.

Additional analysis of your case - we conduct our own due diligence of the case.

We do not control legal and settlement decisions in any case, and particularly not in qui tam cases in which the government has intervened and therefore controls settlement.

Resources

For access to resources you can use to help you determine next steps for your whistleblower claim, visit our Whistleblower Resources page.